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Pesticide Issues


Sick Bees – Part 18F3: Colony Collapse Revisited – Keeping A Leaky Boat Afloat

First published in: American Bee Journal March 2013

Sick Bees Part 18f3: Colony Collapse Revisited Keeping A Leaky Boat Afloat First published in ABJ March 2013 Randy Oliver ScientificBeekeeping.com   the leaky boat analogy. 1 Why would bees collect toxic pollen?. 2 Almond pollen. 4 colony-to-colony variation. 5 bee genetics or gut endosymbionts?. 5 summary (so far). 6 Acknowledgements References   The Leaky […]

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Sick Bees – Part 18F2: Colony Collapse Revisited – Plant Allelochemicals

First published in: American Bee Journal February 2013

Sick Bees Part 18f2: Colony Collapse Revisited Plant Allelochemicals First published in ABJ February 2013 Randy Oliver ScientificBeekeeping.com Nature Is Not Nice Toxic Pollen and Nectar Definitions Have You Ever Noticed Plant Toxic Effects? What Doesn’t Kill You Makes You Stronger An Unintended Effect on Varroa? Self Medication Tritrophic Interactions Bee Detoxification of Allelochemicals Acknowledgements […]

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Sick Bees – Part 18F1: Colony Collapse Revisited – Pesticide Kills

First published in: American Bee Journal January 2013

Sick Bees Part 18F1 Colony Collapse Revisited Pesticide Kills Randy Oliver ScientificBeekeeping.com First Published in ABJ in January 2013 Pesticides A Bit of History Nailing Down the Guilty Party Keep ’em Honest! Pesticides and CCD Making the Link Acknowledgements References As long as I’ve been keeping bees, one of our worst fears has been that […]

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Neonicotinoids: Trying To Make Sense of the Science – Part 2

First published in: American Bee Journal, September, 2012

Neonicotinoids: Trying to Make Sense of the Science Part 2 Randy Oliver ScientificBeekeeping.com First published in ABJ September 2012 “Scientists have largely remained silent when the public discussion turns to the trade-off of benefits and risks from chemicals. They are often unwilling to engage controversial issues that could endanger their funding and research…The public interprets […]

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Testing of Bee Feed Syrups for Neonicotinoid Residues

First published in: American Bee Journal, August, 2012

Testing of Bee Feed Syrups for Neonicotinoid Residues Eric Mussen1 and Randy Oliver2 First Published in ABJ in August 2012 The widespread adoption of the systemic neonicotinoid insecticides has led a number of beekeepers to question whether the commercially available corn, beet, or cane sugar syrups might be contaminated with residues of those insecticides. Introduction […]

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Neonicotinoids: Trying To Make Sense of the Science Part 1

First published in: American Bee Journal, August, 2012

Trying to Make Sense of It All Look and You Shall Find It Looking at Both Sides of the Issue The Regulatory Gauntlet A Balancing Act Who Does the Testing? Academic versus Field Applicable Field Relevance Problems in Methodology and Interpretation Recent Studies References Neonicotinoids: Trying to Make Sense of the Science Part 1 Randy […]

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A New Large-Scale Trial of Clothianidin

First published in: American Bee Journal, September, 2012

A New Large-Scale Trial of Clothianidin Randy Oliver and Brett Adee First published in ABJ September 2012 The process for approving a new pesticide is similar to that of approving a new drug.  In the case of a drug, randomized controlled clinical trials are run to demonstrate efficacy and safety.  Then once the drug is […]

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The Extinction of the Honey Bee?

The Extinction of the Honey Bee? Randy Oliver ScientificBeekeeping.com First Published in ABJ in July 2012 We call on you to vote to stop production and sale of neonicotinoid pesticides until and unless new independent scientific studies prove they are safe. The catastrophic demise of bee colonies could put our whole food chain in danger. […]

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Pesticide Incident Reporting

Pesticide Incident Reporting Randy Oliver ScientificBeekeeping.com First Published in ABJ in May 2012 The EPA needs to know if pesticides are causing “incidents” involving honey bee mortality.  It is important for beekeepers to bring such incidents to the EPA’s attention, or they won’t know that there are problems! If your colonies experience a pesticide incident, […]

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The Future: Pesticides and Fungicides

The Future: Pesticides and Fungicides Randy Oliver ScientificBeekeeping.com First Published in ABJ in Dec. 2009 Dave Hackenberg once quipped that “”Beekeepers have become the ugly stepchild of agriculture.” Despite their general disregard for us, perhaps there are lessons that we can learn from our agricultural stepparents. Pest Resistance Management Beekeepers worldwide, in their exuberant use […]

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